Retort or still.



- H. M. CHASE.

RETORT 0R STILL.

- APPLlCATiON FILED MAR. 3. 19M. A 2 0 I Patented May 30, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- nil a 5 ilnuculo'zentrain sra ras HAROLD M. GHASE, OFWILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA.

Ramona or, STILL.

menses.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30,1916.

Application filed March 3, 1914. Serial No 322,193.

Wilmington, in the county of New Hanover,

State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements 'in Re torts or Stills, of which the following is adescription, reference being bad to the ac-' companying drawings,forming a part hereof. i

My invention relates to stills or retorts particularly adapted to beused in the destructive distillation of non-liquid material in fragmentsor piec s such for, instance as wood "of resinous or other trees and my1nvention has for its object to provide a means ,for heating such stillsor retorts which will be adapted to be used with retorts of largecapacity and will make it possible tonot only regulate the heat appliedbut willdause the heat to penetrate evenly throughout the material intheretort.

In the patent to Thomas W. Pritchard issued Feb. 25, 1908, No. 880,466,a method and means for heating retort's for the do structivedistillation ,of wood is disclosedi having for its main feature thecirculation ahout the retort of a current of heated liquid having a highvolatilizingpoint, the temperature of the liquid being so regulated asto get in the retort just the temperature necessary to drive off theparticular prodnot desired. In the use of this system of heating it isfound that owing to the fact that heat penetrates slowly through a massof wood the diameter of the retort is neces sarily limited where theheating liquid is circulated in a jacket surrounding the re tort or inpipes near the walls of the retort as if the retort is of large diameterthe-outer portions of the charge will be brought to the temperaturedesired a considerable time before the inner or central portions will besufiiciently heated to drive off the product desired. My-presentinvention is designed to overcome this difficulty and to enable re-,torts to be used with the svstem of heating by circulation of a heatedliquid, which are not only of larger diameter than those found possibleto use heretofore but are-also arranged with their axis vertical so asto page mit the material tobe treated to be introduced at. the top ofthe retort and the residue tof he removed from the lower" and thus sideelev;.ti0n partly broken away, of a stillor retort embodying myinvention.= Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the same on line aaof Fig. l and Fig. 3 is a similar view on line b--b of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing 1 indicates a still or retortpreferably formedof sheet metal in cylindrical form and preferably arranged with its axisvertical.

2 indicates a cover for the retort which is constructed so as to beeither in whole or in part removable to permit, the material which is tobe treated to be introduced.

3 indicates the lower end of the retort having a central opening 4through which the residue resulting from the destructive distillationsmay be taken out. A flange 5 extends upward about this opening 4: havingat its upper end a plate 6 with central distillatiori may be led off tosuitable con-.

densers (not shown). In the bottom, 3 a valved outlet 13 is provided fordrawing ofi any liquid residues which may accumulate about the flange 5.r

Within the retort are arranged heating coils 14, 15'and 16 of which thecoils 14 are near the walls of the retort, the coils 16 are near theaxial center of the retort and the coils arranged with i 15 are betweencoils 14 and 16 and are pret erably concentricwith them. The distancebetween coils 1 k and 15 and between coils .15 and 16 is such as topermit of introducing the material to be treated in pieces or frag--ments or such size as the material can con veniently be cut or brokeninto and the in such that the pieces or cross bars 17 arranged near thelower end of the retort supported at their ends in any convenient manneras by brackets 18. Be-

.low these cross bars is arranged a heating coil 19 the coils of whichare preferably so arranged as to form a cone the diameter of the upperend of which is nearly the same as that of the interior of the retortand the diameter of the lower end of which rests on the plate 6 aboutthe opening 7 so as to form a funnel to direct the solid portionsof theresidue to the opening, the spaces between the coils being suiiicient topermit any liquid residue to escape into ,Irounding the flange 5 oropening '4. At the the space surextreme lower end of the retort orstillis arranged a heating coil 20 surrounding the flange 5 or opening 1.

The heating liquid is sup'plied. to the coils 1-1, 1G, 19 and by inlets14, 15' 16' 19 and 20 extending through the walls of the retort throughoutlets inlets and outlets beihg connected with a suitable supply pipeand return pipe (not shown) leading from and to t-he'heater (not shown).

In a retort or still of any considerable height the several coils 14, 15and 16 will preferably be formed in sections each having its inlet andoutlet so as to avoid the cooling which would result from fprcing .untilthe heating liquid to pass through too great a length of pipe.

In actual construction particularly Where the retort orstill is to beusedit'oi' the destructive distillation of resinous wood the spacesbetween the coils 14 and 15 and between the coils 15 {112d 16 and theinterior diameter of the coil 1 3 should not be greater than two orthree feet in order to get the best heating effect on the material to.be treated.

In operation after the top or cover 2 has been opened and the spacesbetween the coils filled with the material to be treated the cover isclosed and the heating liquid forced through the coils. If" desired thefunnel formed by the coil 19 may be left-filled with solid residue fromthe previous run, orthe material to be treated may be allowed tomaterial is heated As soon as the to the degree necessary to drive offthe first fractional distillate this distillate will pass off throughthe oti'takes and will continue to pass off so long as the heat ismaintained until fully'driven oh". The heat is then increased andsuccessive distillates driven off only nonvolatile residues remain.These residues, in case the retort or still is used for destructivedistillation of resinous the coils 1-) and 20 and the liquid passes outll, 15, 16 19"- and 20 therate inlet space surrounding the flange 4,from which it may be drawn off through-the valved outlet 13. In theprocess of distillation this tarry or pitchlike residue will carry downwith it more or less volatile matter andwill submerge the heating coil20 andwill be kept highly heated by this coil and by the coil 19 so asto drive off any volatile matter. The wood or charcoal which fills thefunnel formed by the coil 19 will be freed from any volatile or tarrymatter carried by it by the heat of this coil. After the distillationhas been completed and the retort or still cooled by circulation ofcomparatively cool liquid through the coils the door 8 may be opened andthe charcoal permitted to fall into a suitable receptacle;

By reason of the arrangement of the code 14, 15 and 16 the material tobe treated may be treated rapidly and by the action of' the residues maybe freed from volatile matter thus not only reducing the time necessaryfor the effective distillation but also securing a largerrecovery ofvolatile matter than could otherwise be obtained. vThe arrangement ofcoils also permits of the use of lar er retorts and the consequenttreatment 0 a larger mass of material than would otherwise be'possible.It will of coursebe understood that the intermediate coils 15 may beomitted in retorts of smaller diameter and more than one intermediatecoil may be used in retorts of larger diameter than the one illustrated.It will of course be understood that the retort or still of thisinvention may be used for the treatment of any material capable of beingdistilled to drive off volatile substances. v

It will also be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theparticular construction and arrangement shown asthis may obviously bevaried withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1-. v

1. A retort or still for the treatment of solid material in pieces orfragments. comprising an outer shell arranged vertically having anopening at its upper end to receive .the material to be treated, havinga central openin V at its lower end for the discharge of soli residuesand having a plurality of sets of heating coils arranged therein oneabove the other, each set com-- prising a plurality of coils arrangedone within another spaced apart sufficiently to permit the material tobe treated to enter between them, and each set having a sepaand outletfor the beating medium.

2. A retort or still tor the treatment of permit the solid material inpieces or fragments, comprising anouter shell arranged vertically havingan opening at its upper end to receive the material to be treated,having a central opening at its lower end for the discharge of solidresidues and having a plurality of sets of heating coils arrangedtherein-brie above the other, each set comprising a plurality ofcoilsarranged one within another spaced'apart suiiiciently to permit thematerial to be treated to enter between them, and each set having a.separate inlet and outlet "for the heating medium, and means forsupporting the material to be treated adapted to permit the passage ofmaterial disintegrated by treatment.

3. A. retort or still for the treatment of solid material in pieces orfragments, comprising an outer shell arranged vertically having anopening at its upper end to receive the material to be treated, having acentral opening at its lower end for the discharge of solid residues'andhaving a plurality of sets of heating coils arranged therein one abovethel-other, each set com rising a plurality of, coils arranged one wit,inanother spaced apart sufficiently to permitth'e material to betreatedto enter between'them,

and each set having a separate inlet and outlet for the heating medium,means for supporting the material to be treated adapted to passage ofmaterial disintegrated by treatment, and'a conically arranged heatingcoil below the material supporting means adapted to direct thedisintegrated material to an outlet and to permit liquids ,to passbetween the coils.

4. A retort or still for the treatment of solid material in pieces orfragments, comprising an outer shell arranged vertically having anopening at its upper end to receive the materialfto be treated, having acentral opening at its lower end for the discharge of solid residues andhaving a plu- ,rality of sets of heating coils arranged materialdisintegrated by treatment, a conically arranged heating coil below thematerial supporting means aclapted to direct the disintegrated materialto an outlet and to permit liquids to pass between the coils, a chambersurrounding the conically arranged coil adapted to receive the liquid,and means for heating the chamber.

a This specification signed and 1 witnessed this 25th day of November,A. D. 1913.

HAROLD M] CHASE.

In the presence of P. P. CAUsnY, Bnssn C. STRAUB.

